During video playback, where the aspect ratio of a display (or window) is different than the aspect ratio of the video, a video player application may stretch video to fit the display/window distorting the image, crop video to fit the display/window, or apply mattes to create letter or pillar boxing on the video for display. To create the letter or pillar boxing effect, video players may overlay video on top of a black layer, or other constant color background, that acts as a base.